Why Millennials Love Warren Buffett

Millennial investors remain ardent fans of billionaire Warren Buffett and his investment strategies, but they also admire him for his social conscience and his down-to-earth personality.

As the largest shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) for many decades, Buffett's business strategies have taught Millennial traders how to invest for the long term.

His investment and trading tactics have resonated with not only Millennials, but also their counterparts, Gen X-ers and Baby Boomers who are more focused on their retirement.

More than 75 million Millennials, who were born between 1981 and 1997, are ready to take over an estimated $30 trillion in wealth from Baby Boomers, according to the Pew Research Center.

As CEO and chairman of the board, Buffett has demonstrated to Generation Y his ability to be patient and hold stocks for several years. Some of Buffett's largest holdings are in American Express (AXP) , Coca-Cola (KO) and Wells Fargo (WFC) and he started accumulating those positions in 1991, 1988 and 1989, respectively.

His tolerance could be his strongest trait and one that has helped boost his returns in his portfolios.

Investing in the market should not be a sprint and needs to be a marathon, said Robert Johnson, president of The American College of Financial Services in Bryn Mawr, Pa.

"Buffett is known for his straight talk," he said. "He doesn't use a lot of investing jargon and is able to communicate with people who aren't conversant with investing concepts. He is able to 'cut to the chase' quickly and make points with simple analogies."

"He's old and he invests in things that people understand," he said. "There is nothing exotic or inaccessible about his style. That said, he can buy and sell things the rest of us can't."

His self-effacing attitude also makes him popular since the Omaha, Nebraska resident is not afraid to admit mistakes he has made. Instead, he has drawn attention to them such as not investing in the tech sector. Buffett does not claim to be the smartest guy in the room and recognizes that he is not an expert on everything.

"He has said that the size of one's circle of competence is not that important," Johnson said. "Knowing its boundaries, however, is vital."

Even though he has been a billionaire for many years, Buffett's lifestyle over the past 50 years is not changed much and he has maintained many of his same habits. He still lives in the same home he bought for $31,500 in 1958.

"He drives himself to work every day and stops at McDonald's (MCD) for breakfast on the way," he said. Millennials can identify with Buffett more than they can with other high-profile billionaires like Microsoft (MSFT) founder Bill Gates."

One "very endearing" quality is that Buffett gives others credit and does not take the limelight, said Johnson.

Whether it is his portfolio managers Todd Combs or Ted Weschler, his reinsurance expert Ajit Jain, or the various heads of his operating companies, Buffett's philosophy has "always been to surround himself with smart people, support them and let them do their thing," he said.

His social conscience is one that Millennials hold in high regard since many of them want to invest in socially responsible companies. In 2006, he made a commitment to give all of his Berkshire Hathaway stock to philanthropic foundations eventually.

Millennials tend to be more interested in doing good than in doing well, Johnson said.

"Buffett has shown that it is possible to do both," he said. "His philanthropic pledge states 'were we to use more than 1% of my claim checks (Berkshire Hathaway stock certificates) on ourselves, neither our happiness nor our well-being would be enhanced. In contrast, that remaining 99% can have a huge effect on the health and welfare of others."

The ability to be able to trust in a role model like Buffett is a trait Millennials find impressive.

"He is like the trusted uncle or grandfather," Johnson said. "He has a long and very public business history and has never been implicated in any scandal."

While Buffett's trading strategy is very precise, he has demonstrated a light-hearted side. In 2014, he offered $1 billion for a perfect NCAA bracket, which proved "once and for all that picking a perfect bracket is impossible," Morris said.

"He's a star and he's actually rich," he said. "The stardom came after the fortune -- this is every tech geek's dream. Get rich, then get famous. There aren't many techies that get long-term TV gigs."

Buffett's strategy of how he dealt with the Salomon government bond bidding scandal in 1991 is the stuff of legends, said Johnson.

He has been quoted as saying, "lose money for the firm and I will be understanding; lose a shred of reputation for the firm, and I will be ruthless. It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you will do things differently."